Under A Crimson Sky
by Songsa
Summary: This is a one-shot song fic to the song, "Follow You Down," by Gin Blossom. This story takes place on the Mi'ihen Highroad right after the whole Nooj, Gippal, Paine, and Baralai incident. Gippal/Paine.


_A/N: Ever since I heard this song play on the radio, I couldn't shake off this idea and so I just had to write it. This is my 5th fic, but only my first songfic so forgive me if this isn't quite up to par. Anyway, the song is called,_ "Follow You Down," _by Gin Blossom. It's a nice song and I suggest you listen to it before, during, or after you read this fic to get the most meaning from it._

_Well, I hope you enjoy!_

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It had all happened so fast. It is now just a blur in my mind. I am happy about this, because I would like to forget. When I heard that gunfire it felt like my heart skipped a beat in my chest. '_Had the temples found us already?_' I wondered to myself.

Even though he was in my blind spot at the time, my face was turned enough to see out of the only eye I have left. I saw the body of my new-found best friend fall. His arms stretched over his head, his face meeting the dirt.

I turned to see our attacker and just as soon as I had, I immediately wished that I hadn't. I had no time to shout, to yell my outrage at his betrayal because I too met Baralai's fate. All within just the blink of an eye, cold steel pierced the flesh of my chest, forcing the air from my lungs. It's hard for me to remember the events after that. It all unfolded in a flurry of red before my eye.

I remember Nooj stooping over me, sliding his arms under my armpits and dragging me over to the ledge. Was he going to throw me over? No, he laid me there and hobbled away. He soon came back with Baralai and laid him beside me.

I'm not sure whether I'm suppose to feel thankful that he was placed on my left side- "my good side" as Paine would jokingly call it, or upset that Nooj would place him where I could really get a look at his battered state. He lay there, unmoving. My heart sank when I stared at his face. It was pale and his eyes were closed as if he were sleeping, but I've seen enough in my short life to know that he is not sleeping.

I feel so much sorrow as I look at him. Now I could never tell him how glad I was to have met him and to thank him for giving me a chance at friendship despite are drastic differences.

"B-Bar…" I inwardly cursed his long name. It was just too hard to word out when I could barely take a simple breath.

A rattled, almost gurgled-sounding breath caught my ear. It was coming to the right of me. I rolled my head to the right, forcing the pain from my mind as I craned my head far enough to the right so I could see the source of the rattled breath with my left eye.

As I looked upon the poor soul to my left, I couldn't breathe, and it wasn't because of my blood-filled lungs. For months I had watched her stand with more poise than anyone I had ever known. Her posture was perfect, mirroring her confident personality. She was so proud and near fearless. I couldn't count all the times she had impressed me while we were out in the desert. It wasn't long before she had earned my respect and, eventually, my heart.

It's hard for me to see her like this. At this moment, she was the complete opposite of the woman I know her to be. Her proud posture had been reduced to being sprawled out on the ground. Her once piercing red eyes are now slightly glazed over, a look of confusion evident in them. I could hardly stand to see her like this.

Suddenly, it had gotten harder to breath. I could taste blood in my mouth and I could feel it gurgling in the back of my throat with each useless breath I took. I couldn't help but remove my attention off her and on to the red sky above us as I began silently gasping for breath. I could imagine what I looked like at that moment; no different from a fish out of water, opening and closing it's mouth as it tried to breath.

_Did you see the sky  
I think it means that we've been lost  
Maybe one less time is all we need_

As I gazed up at the sky above me, it reminded me of happier times. Times when I had sat out with my friends around a campfire, quietly watching the sun go down. I don't know if she knew it, Hell, it was weeks before I noticed it myself, but I would always make an effort to sit beside her. I liked… no-- I loved the way all the colors of the setting sun painted across the pupils of her crimson eyes.

No matter how many times the officers had yelled at me that day, or how many times Nooj chastised me with his cane for leaving machina parts all over our tent, or how many times Baralai would snap at me for getting his shirts greasy (Hey, I can't be blamed for seizing the opportunity to use such perfect rags for polishing machina parts.), watching the sunset with them at the end of each day always made me feel, well… happy. I was the only Al Bhed in the Crimson Squad and for this reason many of the other squad members didn't like me very much, but the sunset with my team… with her, always made me feel like I belonged again.

But there is something different about the sunset above me. I couldn't feel the warmth or the happiness that it had brought me so many times before. This one made me feel, dare I thought it, scared, lonely… lost.

'_Do you feel this way too, Paine?'_ I wondered.

_I can't really help it if my tongue's all tied in knots  
Jumping off a bridge, its just the farthest that I've ever been_

I turned my head toward her again. I felt disappointed that she was not looking at the sky. Instead, her head was turned away from me, staring off at something that was too far into my blind spot for me to see.

I wonder what she is looking at, but when I open my mouth, no words come out. My lungs now had more blood in them than they had air. I couldn't speak. I will never know what had been so important to her to have caught her attention in her final minutes.

I watched her, fascinated about what she would look at next. I find myself hoping, not unlike a love-struck teenager, that it would be me. I know that I am close to death. After all the close calls I've had over the years, today is by far the closest I've ever been to death. I wouldn't mind her eyes to be the last thing I see.

Her head turned again, this time so that her eyes are on the crimson sky. Her face remains as calm and as stoic as ever. Unlike myself, who can't stop opening and closing my mouth in silent gasps. She was peaceful looking… I looked like a dying bass. Had she already accepted her fate?

I wonder if she is thinking the thoughts that I was. I wish I could ask.

_Anywhere you go, I'll follow you down  
Anyplace but those I know by heart  
Anywhere you go, I'll follow you down  
I'll follow you down, but not that far_

I watched her face, taking in all her elegant features for the last time. She was so different from any girl I had ever even thought about dating. All the other girls in the past had been blonde, green-eyed Al Bhed women. I had no trouble getting every one of them into bed. They never questioned anything I said. I was always right, but not with Paine. She was--no, _is_ a challenge.

She could fix me with her piercing eyes that would instantly halt any sarcastic comment that I had at the tip of my tongue. But at the same time, she could make me laugh with witty remarks of her own (and she had plenty of them). She is beautiful, but it was an odd sort of beauty, at least from what I'm use to. Unlike the long haired locks that had attracted me so many times, her cropped hair kept her beautiful face unveiled for my viewing pleasure.

Her long, dark eyelashes pronounced her crimson eyes. They made me feel so weak, which is something that had always use to be _my_ doing. Being only sixteen, her face and body already had womanly features that would make all my past girlfriends as green as their eyes with envy. But I think my favorite feature of her is her mouth. Her lips are so full and absi-posi-you better believe _sexy_. I could only imagine all the talents I bet she possessed with that mouth of hers and I did, on many occasions, in my dreams and none of them had anything to do with the witty remarks that they formed.

In fact, her mouth is what has caught my attention right now. I watch as a trickle of blood runs down the corner of her lovely mouth. Against her pale skin it looked almost… fitting. Red looked good on her, but that's something I can never tell her now.

_  
I know we're headed somewhere, I can see how far we've come  
But still I can't remember anything_

I surprise myself when I feel a smile form on my own mouth. It was only just last night that she risked her life to save the three of us. She could've been shot for treason when she shouted at us to run. She then sought us out. She told us that it was only because she wanted to know what the three of us saw back in that den, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she felt relieved and happy; happy to see us alive and well. The fact that she looked exhausted, like she had been running all night and through the morning had given her worrying state away as well.

Baralai had found her that afternoon, dragging her feet up to the travel agency. She was so exhausted and dehydrated that she had collapsed in his arms. Since then she had spent the rest of the day sleeping until she woke up and came outside to see us.

I find this ironic, after what she had done for us she now lies here, dying next to the very men she had saved. She would've lived otherwise. I will never get to thank her.

I mustered up the last of my strength and stretched my arm out toward her. I then enclosed her much-smaller gloved hand within my own. There is one way I can thank her and that's to make sure that she doesn't die alone. It is the very least I can do and at the same time, the only thing I can do.

I will follow her. I will follow her down into the depths of death.

_Lets not do the wrong thing and I'll swear it might be fun  
It's a long way down when all the knots we've tied have come undone_

Throughout all the adventures I've had with her, they couldn't compare to the one I was about to have with her now. I am prepared to face the unknowns of death at her side. Who knows, maybe it won't be as unpleasant as it seems. There's always the chance that it could even be fun.

I will myself to try and forgive and forget any and all regrets in my life. I hope she is doing the same. That way, we will not be attached to this world as unsent. We can move on to the Farplane together. We could help each other along the way; make sure that we don't get lost and watch each other's backs. Maybe we'll find Baralai along the way and then the three of us could go together. Just like the good ol' days, minus one person… but that person had just proven that he was never our friend at all. Turns out, it had always just been the three of us.

The thought of us as a trio suddenly made my smile vanish. We had come so far as companions. I remember first setting eyes on Baralai. Anyone could guess my first thoughts about him, '_Ah great, of course I have to be partnered with some Yevon bastard_. _This is gonna be one hell of a long trip.'_

But you surprised me, Baralai. Turns out you're not such a bad guy after all despite your background. Maybe a little annoying at times, for example when you were so quiet which would make me feel like a jackass, but all and all you're not so bad to hang around with. In fact, I had never developed a tighter bond of friendship with anybody else in my life. Who would've thought that I could get so attached to a person who's been brought up by the same teachings that have caused my people so much grief?

Then there is you, Paine. I had always thought you were pretty, hell-- even sexy, but once you started lowering that damn wall you put up around yourself and you let me hear what your melodic laughter sounds like, you became absi-posi-lutely gorgeous in my single eye. I'll never forget the day you approached me and asked if I would teach you Al Bhed. You asked me with your head held high, as always, but overtime I learned to read you like a book, Paine. I could easily see that you were nervous about asking me. You can't fool me.

I remember staring at your lips as I taught you. I had always thought that you had been blessed with the sexiest mouth that I had ever seen, but oh Shiva… when you started mouthing your first Al Bhed words it took all my willpower to keep myself from leaping on you and just taking you right there. It might have been a bit low of me to do, but I remember intentionally tricking you into saying something specific as your first sentence: "E haat oui."

I'm sure that if you were to ever think back and remember that, it would be the end of my manhood. But, at that time, I just couldn't resist. I was willing to take the risk and it paid off in the end. You will never know why, and now I can never tell you, but when you uttered those words I knew that I had fallen for you, Paine. From that moment, I became yours. That moment was when I knew, somewhere along the line, I had fallen in love with you.

But as I lie here on the ground, gasping my last breaths, I know that our story ends here. The knots that we had tied between the three of us come undone under a sunset that had previously helped to tie them.

_Anywhere you go, I'll follow you down  
Anyplace but those I know by heart  
Anywhere you go, I'll follow you down  
I'll follow you down, but not that far  
How you gonna ever find your place  
Running in an artificial pace_

Another thing that you will never know, Paine, is that after that night, I had always followed you. When ever you went off to bathe, I was always secretly close behind to make sure no one bothered you. As we trudged across the desert that I had previously traveled a few times over my life and already knew the way, I comfortably walked behind you. I loved watching your hips sway hypnotically as you traveled across the desert sands. As we slept in the same tent together, I always had to stay awake long enough to watch you fall asleep before I felt comfortable enough myself to follow your lead into slumber.

I don't know if you ever noticed, but everyone else in the Crimson Squad sure did. Everyone knew that I had laid claim to you as you had to me, albeit, unintentionally. Sure, it took a couple threats from my end, perhaps a few right hooks and maybe some well-aimed shots at the sand inches from the feat of other men until I got my point across. But soon, the whistles, catcalls and the pick-up-lines all stopped from the other Squad members and you have me to thank for that.

And now, here I am, more than willing to follow you to the last place that I ever can, but there is something that now weighs heavily on my mind. And it is for exactly that reason that I can't follow you as far as I would like to.

As much as I would love to forget and let go, it just can't happen. I joined the Crimson Squad to do something unheard of; become the first Al Bhed to lead his own squad of Crusaders and thus, prove that my people can amount to more than just the scum of Spira. Eventually, I could strive to bring peace between my people and the people of Spira. I could help put an end to a thousand years of oppression. But… that's not going to happen now.

So you see, Paine, I'm not ready to die yet. There's still so much that I need to do. Judging by your expression, you have already come to accept death. You are ready to go. As much as I'd like to... I can't go with you. I'll be stuck here as an unsent and then eventually become a lowly fiend. I'm sorry, Paine. All I can do is follow you into death and see that you don't go it alone, but I won't be able to go with you to the Farplane. I can't go that far.

But you're strong and smart girl. I know that you can make it.

_  
Are they gonna find us lying face down in the sand  
So what the hell now, we've already been forever damned_

Suddenly, she closed her eyes.

"P-Paine?" I shook feebly at her hand, trying in vain to get her to open the eyes that captivated me so much. The mere action of moving my arm was making me use up more precious oxygen. I could feel the strain on my lungs as my gasps grew from silent to audible.

"Paine!" I tried to shout, but it came out croaked and feeble.

Had she gone? Had she gone on her own?

For the first time in years, I could feel hot tears stinging at my eye. The most perfect person I had ever met had died, and on her own too. Why am I still alive?

"Gippal!" I heard my name being called. It had come from an Al Bhed man that worked in the agency. Apparently, the still forms of my fallen friends and I had finally caught their attention. "Gippal! Ec dryd oui?"

I could hear frantic footsteps running toward us. My grip on Paine's hand tightened. I would not let myself be torn from her. I will stay by her side.

_Anywhere you go, I'll follow you down  
I'll follow you down, but not that far..._

_

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A/N: Well, what did you guys think? I'm curious because I am currently working on a multi-chapter Gippal fic, but I haven't decided whether I want to write it in first person or not, so this was kind of a _test. How'd I do? Got any tips or advice on how I wrote him? Did I get his personality right? What did I do wrong? Hit me with your criticism! Praise would be nice too though. _

_:D_


End file.
